Then I thought about a tomato galette, aka a tomato tart. With the heat high enough, and the dough thin enough, a tomato tart could cook in about 20 minutes, which leaves just enough time to assemble the tart before baking. Timing solved.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks

Now for the problem of protein. Although I'd happily eat a perfect summer tomato on its own for dinner, I wanted to create a dish satisfying enough to work as a whole meal. I'm never a fan of simply sticking beans into a recipe for the sake of adding protein, but when I came across the idea of this chickpea crumble—a quick mix of chickpeas, nuts, and seasoning zapped together in the food processor—from Laura over on The First Mess, I was intrigued. In my version, I swapped out pine nuts for pistachios, added lemon zest, and kept the crumble raw, baking it on top of the tart for a rich, nutty addition to the tomatoes.

With a sprinkling of cheese (I like the mix of Parm and Gruyère) and some thinly sliced onion, the tomato tart comes together as a simple, seasonal dinner. The 10-inch tart easily feeds two; for a dinner for four serve a side salad to fill out the meal. And if you have extra tomatoes on hand, toss those into the salad, because you've gotta eat as many as you can while they're still so good.